大脑前额叶扣带回皮层调制丘脑触觉信息的途径研究

大脑前额叶扣带回皮层是一个与感觉功能密切相关的脑区,它能够对丘脑触觉反应进行调制.实验在10只戊巴比妥钠（1%）麻醉的SD雄性大鼠上进行,采用辣根过氧化物酶（horseradish peroxidase,HRP）逆行标记的方法,对扣带皮层前部调制丘脑腹侧基底核（ventrobasal,VB）感觉信息的途径进行了研究.实验结果显示,VB核可以接受扣带皮层后部的投射,而且扣带皮层前部有纤维投射到扣带皮层后部.由此提示了前扣带皮层对丘脑腹侧基底核神经元触觉信息调制的可能神经环路是：扣带皮层前部-扣带皮层后部-丘脑腹侧基底核.     

触觉+疼痛

正触觉信息的传导机制:触觉信息经同侧脊髓背索向上传导至脑干(脊髓和延髓交界处)的背索核,再通过内侧丘系通路传导至丘脑,最后由第三级的丘脑神经元将信息投射至大脑中央后回的初级躯体感觉皮层获得进一步加工。(图片来源:《Principles of Neural Science》)生理性疼痛的加工过程:(a)外周伤害刺激能够激活初级传入神经纤维末梢的离子通道,从而启动外周伤害刺激的转导。(b)动作电位传导至位于脊髓背角的次级伤害投射神经元,其上行纤维到达脑干以及丘脑。     

基于视觉感知机制的轮廓检测方法

结合初级视皮层的结构及其功能特性,模拟初级皮层的轮廓感知功能,提出一种有效的基于人类视觉感知机制的轮廓检测算法.首先,利用局部能量建立复杂细胞响应模型;然后,结合初级视皮层细胞排列特性构建图像信息与皮层细胞的映射关系,通过模拟神经元间的水平连接机制,实现对图像轮廓信息的增强和背景信息的抑制,建立了以初级视皮层风车状结构为基础的轮廓感知模型.实验结果表明:所提方法在保持目标轮廓完整性的同时,对背景信息的抑制效果更为有效;可以更加有效地对图像背景纹理进行抑制和对目标轮廓进行增强,在一定程度上达到了轮廓过度检测与欠检测的平衡,检测出的目标轮廓位置也更加精准.     

用于盲人的图像振动触觉显示系统设计

为了帮助视觉障碍者以振动触觉方式感知图像信息,设计了一个能自动采集图像信息并将图像轮廓转换为振动触觉刺激的触觉显示系统.该系统主要由摄像头和基于嵌入式系统的8x8振动触觉刺激阵列组成.系统能通过摄像头采集图片信息,提取物体二维轮廓特征,并以顺时针链表形式依次触发振动电机,产生动态振动触觉刺激,让佩戴者通过触觉刺激感知图...     

移动终端信息的振动式触觉信号编码表征方法

针对视听障碍群体无法通过触觉交互操作获取移动设备信息的问题,提出一种利用多感知强度的振动触觉信号对移动设备上的信息进行编码的方法,用于区分信息种类或内容.首先,通过测试感知阈值确定振动触觉信号的频率、持续时间和间隔的感知强度,并将信号调整到可接受的水平;其次,根据主观感知强度差异和编码组合方式提出等长编码和变长编码,用于信息的触觉编码传输;最后,通过信息理论对有限编码信息的识别结果进行评估.实验结果表明,该方法可提高信息触觉判定的正确率,且变长编码与等长编码相比具有更好的识别率和传输效率.     

一套用于秀丽隐杆线虫多感觉信息整合机制研究的行为学系统（英文）

动物通过感知不同的感觉信息来介导自己的行为.神经系统如何进行多感觉信息整合仍然是神经科学领域一个悬而未决的问题.本文对秀丽隐杆线虫如何整合温度和盐刺激这两种对其生存至关重要的刺激进行研究.我们设计了一套行为学系统,可以在正交方向同时产生稳定的线性温度和盐浓度梯度.通过将本文中的行为学系统与一套追踪系统和钙成像系统结合,我们对秀丽隐杆线虫趋向行为的行为策略以及参与这一行为的两个主要感觉神经元AFD和ASER的功能进行分析.我们的工作开启了一个全新的视野,在精巧的神经系统结构中进行多感觉信息整合的研究.     

言语知觉中的感觉运动整合机制

 大脑如何感知和理解言语是心理学和脑科学研究的重要问题之一。近年来,言语产出相关的皮层言语运动系统（SMS）通常被认为以代偿调节方式参与有噪音干扰和/或信息缺失情况下的言语知觉中。本研究采用功能性核磁共振成像（fMRI）技术考查在噪音干扰下的音节辨识任务中的感觉运动整合机制。研究1发现,SMS的参与程度随语音辨识难度增加而增加、在噪音干扰下比听皮层具有更高的音位特异性编码和表征能力,并且在难度适中时对听皮层编码代偿作用最大。研究2发现,听力正常的老年人在噪音干扰下存在音节辨识困难,且比年轻人更加依赖SMS的活动增加以及较少受到老化和噪音影响的言语运动表征以代偿听觉加工能力的下降。本研究不仅加深了对言语知觉中跨通道感觉运动信息整合机制及其毕生发展机制的认识,还为帮助听力受损或正常的老年人设计和开展言语交流康复训练方案提供了新的视角和启发。     

神经假肢手的感知反馈重建技术及应用

 重建假肢手的感知反馈功能是当前神经康复工程的重大挑战之一。从触觉感知的神经基础、重建技术分类及其应用等方面，综述了神经假肢手人机交互技术的进展。功能性电刺激是常用的神经调控技术，可用于刺激大脑皮层、外周神经及皮肤感受器等，达到重建感知功能的目的，并已取得一些重大技术突破和临床应用。基于诱发指感的表面电刺激技术可形成一种非侵入神经接口，结合神经移植再造感知功能，有很好的应用前景。关键词神经假肢手；感知反馈技术；电刺激     

基于气压式触觉的欠驱动手抓取分类方法

使用一种气压式触觉阵列传感器拾取触觉特征信息,手掌和指尖触觉阵列点的灵敏度和最大重复性误差分别为13.73,10.85 kPa/N和3.54%,2.73%.依靠欠驱动手组建了触觉特征数据集,通过离散卡尔曼滤波方法对气压式触觉传感信息进行降噪处理,结合随机森林分类方法对生活物品进行分类.实验结果表明:气压式触觉传感器灵敏度高且重复度误差小,能够有效感知抓取分类过程中的触觉信息变化,依靠欠驱动手避免了抓取时速度碰撞对分类结果产生的影响,组建数据集时无须复杂的抓取控制方式,结合离散卡尔曼滤波的随机森林分类方法能够有效地完成对物体的识别分类,识别准确率达93.2%.     

面向脑卒中康复的气袋式触觉反馈单元特性研究

针对现阶段气袋式触觉反馈装置难以准确呈现交互效果及同时表征触觉力和触觉面积的问题，开展了气动触觉单元的静态特征和动态特征研究。依据气动触觉单元的几何约束条件建立了静态压力分布模型，类比电路电容放电模型构建了动态压力响应模型。制作了3种规格的气袋触觉单元并进行了特征实验测试，结果表明，静态压力分布模型的拟合触觉面积误差为6.94%,中型气袋(14.4 mm×9.4 mm)及以下规格的气动单元响应时间在0.5 s以内。采用中型气袋搭建了躯干触觉反馈系统，并进行了触觉感知实验，通过调节充气限制高度以表征不同的触觉面积，通过改变气袋气压大小以表征不同的触觉力。实验结果表明，被试者对其产生的触觉面积和触觉力感知识别率分别为87.25%和89.67%。气袋式触觉反馈单元特性研究为触觉反馈装置的设计参数选择提供了依据，可以使脑卒中患者在康复训练中快速感受到触觉面积和触觉力，从而提高患者的康复训练体验。     

Activity in motor-sensory projections reveals distributed coding in somatosensation

Cortical-feedback projections to primary sensory areas terminate most heavily in layer 1 (L1) of the neocortex, where they make synapses with tuft dendrites of pyramidal neurons. L1 input is thought to provide ‘contextual’ information, but the signals transmitted by L1 feedback remain uncharacterized. In the rodent somatosensory system, the spatially diffuse feedback projection from vibrissal motor cortex (vM1) to vibrissal somatosensory cortex (vS1, also known as the barrel cortex) may allow whisker touch to be interpreted in the context of whisker position to compute object location. When mice palpate objects with their whiskers to localize object features, whisker touch excites vS1 and later vM1 in a somatotopic manner. Here we use axonal calcium imaging to track activity in vM1-->vS1 afferents in L1 of the barrel cortex while mice performed whisker-dependent object localization. Spatially intermingled individual axons represent whisker movements, touch and other behavioural features. In a subpopulation of axons, activity depends on object location and persists for seconds after touch. Neurons in the barrel cortex thus have information to integrate movements and touches of multiple whiskers over time, key components of object identification and navigation by active touch.     

Sensory maps in the olfactory cortex defined by long-range viral tracing of single neurons

Sensory information may be represented in the brain by stereotyped mapping of axonal inputs or by patterning that varies between individuals. In olfaction, a stereotyped map is evident in the first sensory processing centre, the olfactory bulb (OB), where different odours elicit activity in unique combinatorial patterns of spatially invariant glomeruli. Activation of each glomerulus is relayed to higher cortical processing centres by a set of ～20-50 'homotypic' mitral and tufted (MT) neurons. In the cortex, target neurons integrate information from multiple glomeruli to detect distinct features of chemically diverse odours. How this is accomplished remains unclear, perhaps because the cortical mapping of glomerular information by individual MT neurons has not been described. Here we use new viral tracing and three-dimensional brain reconstruction methods to compare the cortical projections of defined sets of MT neurons. We show that the gross-scale organization of the OB is preserved in the patterns of axonal projections to one processing centre yet reordered in another, suggesting that distinct coding strategies may operate in different targets. However, at the level of individual neurons neither glomerular order nor stereotypy is preserved in either region. Rather, homotypic MT neurons from the same glomerulus innervate broad regions that differ between individuals. Strikingly, even in the same animal, MT neurons exhibit extensive diversity in wiring; axons of homotypic MT pairs diverge from each other, emit primary branches at distinct locations and 70-90% of branches of homotypic and heterotypic pairs are non-overlapping. This pronounced reorganization of sensory maps in the cortex offers an anatomic substrate for expanded combinatorial integration of information from spatially distinct glomeruli and predicts an unanticipated role for diversification of otherwise similar output neurons.     

A neuronal mechanism for sensory gating during locomotion in a vertebrate

The response of the foot to touch during walking depends on whether it is in the air or on the ground. In most animals, reflex responses to external stimuli are similarly adapted to their timing in the locomotor cycle, but there is only fragmentary information about the neural mechanisms involved. In arthropods, reflex modulation can occur in the sensory receptors themselves and in neurons that discharge during locomotion. By recording with dye-filled microelectrodes from neurons in the spinal cord of frog embryos, we describe reflex modulation at the level of sensory interneurons. Sensory inputs from skin receptors excite a specific class of spinal sensory interneuron whose activity leads to reflex bending of the body away from the stimulus. During swimming, these inputs are gated by rhythmic postsynaptic inhibition, so that sensory drive reaches motor neurons only at phases in the locomotor cycle when the resulting contraction would likewise turn the embryo away from the stimulated side. Such gating of sensory pathways could be a general feature of all locomotor systems where responses to sensory stimuli need to be adapted to the phase of locomotion.     

中国大鲵脊髓的形态学研究

用大体解剖及组织学方法研究了中国大鲵脊髓的形态结构及细胞构筑。其特点是:脊髓纵贯椎管全长;运动神经元分腹内侧群和背外侧群;中间神经元未分化成亚核;髓内感觉细胞尤存;白质中有散在的神经细胞。文中还就大鲵脊髓在进化历程中的位置作了讨论。     

Monoclonal antibodies against carbohydrate differentiation antigens identify subsets of primary sensory neurones

Dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurones transmit cutaneous sensory information from the periphery to the spinal cord. Within the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, classes of sensory fibres that are activated by different cutaneous stimuli terminate in separate and highly restricted laminae. Although the developmental events resulting in the laminar organization of sensory afferent terminals have not been defined, it is likely that interactions between surface molecules on DRG and dorsal horn neurones are involved in the generation of afferent synaptic connections. The identification of surface antigens that distinguish functional subclasses of DRG neurones would represent a first step in establishing the existence and nature of such molecules. We report here that monoclonal antibodies directed against carbohydrate differentiation antigens identify cytoplasmic and cell surface molecules expressed selectively by functional subsets of DRG neurons.     

Gain control by layer six in cortical circuits of vision

After entering the cerebral cortex, sensory information spreads through six different horizontal neuronal layers that are interconnected by vertical axonal projections. It is believed that through these projections layers can influence each other's response to sensory stimuli, but the specific role that each layer has in cortical processing is still poorly understood. Here we show that layer six in the primary visual cortex of the mouse has a crucial role in controlling the gain of visually evoked activity in neurons of the upper layers without changing their tuning to orientation. This gain modulation results from the coordinated action of layer six intracortical projections to superficial layers and deep projections to the thalamus, with a substantial role of the intracortical circuit. This study establishes layer six as a major mediator of cortical gain modulation and suggests that it could be a node through which convergent inputs from several brain areas can regulate the earliest steps of cortical visual processing.     

Morphological and electrophysiological evidence for regeneration of transected spinal cord fibers and restoration of motor functions in adult rats

The evoked potentials are regarded as an efficientindex to evaluate the functional status of a nervoussystem[1]. When stimulating the motor area of cerebralcortex with transcranial magnetic stimulation, elec-tronic signals can be obtained at the spinal co…     

Neuronal ensemble control of prosthetic devices by a human with tetraplegia

Neuromotor prostheses (NMPs) aim to replace or restore lost motor functions in paralysed humans by routeing movement-related signals from the brain, around damaged parts of the nervous system, to external effectors. To translate preclinical results from intact animals to a clinically useful NMP, movement signals must persist in cortex after spinal cord injury and be engaged by movement intent when sensory inputs and limb movement are long absent. Furthermore, NMPs would require that intention-driven neuronal activity be converted into a control signal that enables useful tasks. Here we show initial results for a tetraplegic human (MN) using a pilot NMP. Neuronal ensemble activity recorded through a 96-microelectrode array implanted in primary motor cortex demonstrated that intended hand motion modulates cortical spiking patterns three years after spinal cord injury. Decoders were created, providing a 'neural cursor' with which MN opened simulated e-mail and operated devices such as a television, even while conversing. Furthermore, MN used neural control to open and close a prosthetic hand, and perform rudimentary actions with a multi-jointed robotic arm. These early results suggest that NMPs based upon intracortical neuronal ensemble spiking activity could provide a valuable new neurotechnology to restore independence for humans with paralysis.     

Sensory experience modifies the short-term dynamics of neocortical synapses.

Many representations of sensory stimuli in the neocortex are arranged as topographic maps. These cortical maps are not fixed, but show experience-dependent plasticity. For instance, sensory deprivation causes the cortical area representing the deprived sensory input to shrink, and neighbouring spared representations to enlarge, in somatosensory, auditory or visual cortex. In adolescent and adult animals, changes in cortical maps are most noticeable in the supragranular layers at the junction of deprived and spared cortex. However, the cellular mechanisms of this experience-dependent plasticity are unclear. Long-term potentiation and depression have been implicated, but have not been proven to be necessary or sufficient for cortical map reorganization. Short-term synaptic dynamics have not been considered. We developed a brain slice preparation involving rat whisker barrel cortex in vitro. Here we report that sensory deprivation alters short-term synaptic dynamics in both vertical and horizontal excitatory pathways within the supragranular cortex. Moreover, modifications of horizontal pathways amplify changes in the vertical inputs. Our findings help to explain the functional cortical reorganization that follows persistent changes of sensory experience.     

Internal brain state regulates membrane potential synchrony in barrel cortex of behaving mice

Internal brain states form key determinants for sensory perception, sensorimotor coordination and learning. A prominent reflection of different brain states in the mammalian central nervous system is the presence of distinct patterns of cortical synchrony, as revealed by extracellular recordings of the electroencephalogram, local field potential and action potentials. Such temporal correlations of cortical activity are thought to be fundamental mechanisms of neuronal computation. However, it is unknown how cortical synchrony is reflected in the intracellular membrane potential (V(m)) dynamics of behaving animals. Here we show, using dual whole-cell recordings from layer 2/3 primary somatosensory barrel cortex in behaving mice, that the V(m) of nearby neurons is highly correlated during quiet wakefulness. However, when the mouse is whisking, an internally generated state change reduces the V(m) correlation, resulting in a desynchronized local field potential and electroencephalogram. Action potential activity was sparse during both quiet wakefulness and active whisking. Single action potentials were driven by a large, brief and specific excitatory input that was not present in the V(m) of neighbouring cells. Action potential initiation occurs with a higher signal-to-noise ratio during active whisking than during quiet periods. Therefore, we show that an internal brain state dynamically regulates cortical membrane potential synchrony during behaviour and defines different modes of cortical processing.